WHITECHAPEL PRESS

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

AMERICA'S 10 MOST HAUNTED PRISONS & JAILS

When compiling a list of
America’s most haunted places, prisons and jails are usually high on the list.
The amount of trauma, pain and terror experienced by the men who are
incarcerated often leaves a lasting impression behind and horrible events that occur
behind the prison’s high walls tend to cause the spirits of the men imprisoned
to remain in death, just as they were in life. There is no escape – even after
death.

1. EASTERN STATE
PENITENTIARY

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Founded by the Quakers in 1829, who envisioned the
stone castle as a place where criminals could become penitent for their crimes
(hence the name, “penitentiary”), the prison was a place of total isolation.
Inmates were confined in windowless rooms and allowed no contact with any
living person. Many of them were driven insane by the solitude. Punishments for
breaking the rules were extreme and suicides became common. Solitary
confinement was ended in the 1870s and a century later, the prison was closed
down. Since that time, ghost stories and paranormal encounters have become
commonplace. Apparitions have been seen, mysterious footsteps heard and strange
sounds reported.

2. ALCATRAZ

San Francisco, California

The “Rock,”
the name given to Alcatraz Penitentiary, was the ultimate American prison. It
was the place where scores of the country’s worst criminal offenders,
bloodletters, badmen and escaped artists called the end of the line. Although
it started as a military prison, for 29 years the prison kept the country’s
most notorious lawbreakers – including Al Capone, Doc Barker, George “Machine
Gun” Kelly and others – confined behind stone walls. The initial prison was
built in 1859 but fell into disuse by the 1920s. It was then re-opened in 1933
to be an escape-proof federal prison. It was a brutal place of punishment and
confinement with few privileges. Suicide, murder and even insanity became
common. In 1946, several inmates attempted a violent and bloody escape from the
Rock, but failed. There were a handful of other attempts, but only one
successful escape in 1962 when three bank robbers, using handmade rubber rafts
and dummies with real human hair, vanished into the dark waters of the bay.
Alcatraz was closed down one year later, in 1963. Regarded as one of America’s
most haunted places, ghosts have been widely reported ever since, even by staff
members of the National Park Service, which now operates the property. Ghosts
have been sighted, along with strange sounds, screams, yells, weeping and eerie
music.

3. OHIO STATE REFORMATORY

Mansfield, Ohio

The
Ohio State Reformatory (made famous in the film, “The Shawshank Redemption”)
was opened in 1896 as a prison for criminals too old for juvenile facilities
and not hardened enough for the Ohio State Penitentiary in Columbus. It saw
untold thousands of prisoners during its years of operations and while once
applauded as a place that could humanely reform first-time offenders, the conditions
deteriorated to the point that it became known for abuse, torture and murder. Already
considered overcrowded and inhumane by the 1930s, the massive prison was kept
open until 1986, even after a federal lawsuit was filed by the inmates that
cited that it was unfit for human occupation. Since the closing of the
reformatory, stories have circulated that it is haunted by the tormented
spirits of former inmates, guards and prison officials who have simply never
left. Apparitions have been reported, footsteps have been heard and unsettling
encounters have taken place in the cells where the inmates once lived, suffered
and sometimes died. One of the resident ghosts is reported to be Helen Glattke,
the wife of Warden Arthur L. Glattke. She died in 1950, in an apartment in the
administration wing of the prison, when a loaded handgun fell from a closet
shelf and went off. Her spirit has remained in the apartment ever since, often
manifesting as the smell of perfume.

4. OHIO PENITENTIARY

Formerly in Columbus, Ohio

The
Ohio Penitentiary opened in 1834 and while first condemned by reformers in the
early 1900s, it was not closed down until 1979. The prison has since been
demolished, but haunting memories of it remain. During its years of operation,
the prison saw scores of deaths from fire, cholera outbreaks, murder and
executions in the state’s electric chair, but nothing matched the horror of the
fire that engulfed the prison in April 1930. The blaze swept through the west
block of the penitentiary and killed 322 inmates in a single night. While the
prison was still open, inmates complained of ghostly sightings and eerie
happenings but when the buildings were finally torn down, tales quickly spread
of apparitions among the ruins. Eventually, the prison was replaced by a sports
arena – which is also rumored to be haunted.

5. MAXWELL STREET POLICE STATION

Chicago, Illinois

The
police station in Chicago’s Maxwell Street neighborhood – known as “Bloody
Maxwell” because of the escalating crime rate in the area – was constructed in
1889. At that time, the surrounding part of the city was home to thousands of Italian
immigrants, including the Genna Brothers, who partnered with Al Capone’s
organization during Prohibition to make bootleg liquor within blocks of the
police station. It became a notorious police station, known for corruption,
bribery, brutality and torture. Many lawbreakers never left the basement “dungeon”
alive. The station was closed down in 1997 and became to be used by the
security officers for the nearby University of Illinois Chicago campus. It’s
currently being used for filming for the television show, “Chicago PD.”
Although the cops and criminals of the station’s past are long gone, stories
say that they still linger here, especially those who were brutalized and
killed in the “dungeon.” Screams have been reported coming from the basement,
along with moaning, crying and the sounds of rattling bars and handcuff chains.

6. LAKE COUNTY JAIL

Crown Point, Indiana

The Lake
County Jail, located in the county seat of Crown Point, was built in 1908 and
enlarged twenty years later. At that time, county sheriffs were required to
live at the jail and so the combined residence and jail included all the
facilities needed for its purpose as a law enforcement institution. Located within
the walls were the family’s living area, warden’s residence, department
offices, 150 cells, maximum security accommodations, institutional kitchen,
food storage, heating and cooling systems, barber shop and a garage. It was considered
to be one of the finest in Indiana and thought to be escape-proof. However, on
March 3, 1934, gangster John Dillinger proved it to be otherwise when he made a
daring escape that gave the jail its continuing infamy. The jail remained in
operation until the 1970s, when it became a historic site. As restoration has continued
over the last two decades, stories have emerged about a haunting at the jail.
Apparitions have been seen in cells and corridors, strange photographs have
been taken, doors open and close by themselves, lights turn on and off and
disembodied footsteps and voices have often been reported by volunteers and
visitors alike.

7. POTTAWATAMIE COUNTY JAIL

Council Bluffs, Iowa

Built
in1885, the old Pottawattamie County Jail is one of the most unusual houses of
incarceration in America. The jail has a three-tier cell block with ten cells
on each tier. It was originally designed to rotate continuously throughout the
night by means of a water wheel in the basement, earning it the nickname of the
"squirrel cage jail.” In this way, all of the prisoners could be watched
from a central location. Unfortunately, the 45-ton cell block was simply too
heavy to work right and it became stuck frequently. Eventually, the jailers
gave up on the plan and a night guard had to be hired. The cylinder continued
to be used until 1960, when a prisoner died in his cell and the cell block
jammed, trapping the body in the cell for several days. After that, cell doors
were cut into every cell. The jail was closed down in 1969 and during its
history, four deaths occurred within its walls. One man died of a heart attack,
another in a fall when he tried to write his name on the ceiling, another
hanged himself in his cell, and the last after an accident when an officer
accidentally shot himself in the confusion of protecting the jail from an angry
mob during the Farmer's Holiday Strike of 1932. It's no surprise that these
unlucky individuals -- along with others -- are believed to still linger at the
old jail.

8. WEST VIRGINIA PENITENTIARY

Moundsville, West Virginia

The
prison was built on the edge of Moundsville in 1866. The prison remained open
for 129 years, finally closing down in 1995. During that time, the structure
housed thousands of prisoners. Many lost their lives here, through both state
sanctioned executions and during prison violence. Since its closure, the prison
had become known as one of the most haunted sites in the country. Staff members
and visitors alike have reported ghosts in North Hall, where the most dangerous
inmates were housed, in the execution chamber – where “Old Sparky” sent many to
an early grave – and the “Hole,” a brutal solitary confinement area that often
drove inmates to insanity and suicide. With death, violence, murder and
horrible conditions combining to make a terrifying haunting, ghost hunters have
flocked to the former penitentiary over the years. Visitors claim to have
experienced the sound of phantom footsteps, voices and noises that have no
explanation, inexplicable cold chills, overwhelming feelings of panic and more.

9. WYOMING TERRITORIAL PRISON

Laramie, Wyoming

The
westward expansion of the railroad brought more than money and high times to
the people of Laramie, Wyoming. It also brought a score of unsavory men and
women and a crime rate that rivaled much larger eastern cities. As a result,
the Wyoming Territorial Prison was built as a federal penitentiary in Laramie
in 1872. The facility was plagued with problems from the start, with a fire in
1873 and a number of escapes. Of the 44 prisoners accepted in the first two
years of operation, 11 escaped. By 1877, the prison was overcrowded and as its
reputation worsened, changes were made and a second cellblock was constructed.
It became a state prison from 1890 to 1901. There were at least five cells for
female inmates, and several solitary confinement cells. Soon-to-be-famous
outlaw Butch Cassidy was incarcerated here from 1894 to1896. After its closure
in 1903, the prison was given to the University of Wyoming, which used it for
livestock breeding experiments until 1989. It opened to the public as a
historic site two years later – and stories of ghosts began to circulate. With
more than 1,000 inmates housed there over the years, it’s too be expected that
some of the prisoners or guards might linger behind. However, there is one
prisoner who reputedly is more active than the others. His name is Julius
Greenwald and he was sent to prison for the 1897 murder of his wife. Prison
lore states that Greenwald was adept at making cigars and convincing prison
staff to allow him to make and sell cigars while incarcerated. He allegedly
made the cigars from his cell on the third floor – a cell that was removed
during a renovation of the site. Allegedly, Greenwald’s spirit did not
appreciate this and has manifested as a phantom cigar smell at the prison ever
since.

10. MISSOURI STATE PENITENTIARY

Jefferson City, Missouri

The
Missouri State Penitentiary, known as “The Walls,” was constructed in the early
1830s to serve the newly admitted state of Missouri. The earliest prisoners
made the bricks that the first walls were built from. The initial prison
population consisted of one guard, one warden, fifteen prisoners, and a foreman
for the brick-making operation with an assistant. Eleven of the fifteen
prisoners were from St. Louis, and all were incarcerated for larceny except for
one, who was imprisoned for stabbing a man during a drunken brawl. Needless to
say, the prison grew many times over the years until it closed down in 2004.
During its operation, it saw many infamous prisoners, including Charles “Pretty
Boy” Floyd, James Earl Ray and Bobby Greenlease kidnappers Carl Austin Hall and
Bonnie Heady. They were executed at the prison. In 1954, there was a major riot
at the penitentiary. The Missouri State Highway Patrol, Missouri National
Guard, and police departments from Jefferson City, St. Louis and Kansas City,
Missouri were called in to help quell the disturbance. When it was all over,
four inmates had been killed, 29 had been injured and there had been one
attempted suicide. Four guards had been seriously injured and several buildings
had been burned. During its operation, forty inmates were executed in the gas chamber
and Time Magazine once called it the
"Bloodiest 47 acres in America" for the frequent violence inside its
walls. It probably comes as no surprise that since its closure, the
penitentiary has become a hotspot for paranormal activity. Staff members and
visitors have reported dozens of eerie encounters with lingering spirits, which
have been seen, heard and encountered first-hand.

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AMERICAN HAUNTINGS: The Roadside Guide to America's Haunted History

Troy Taylor is the author of more than 100 books on ghosts, hauntings, crime and the unexplained in America. He is also the owner of American Hauntings, one of the oldest haunted history websites on the internet. He is also the owner of a publishing company, eight ghost and crime tour companies and has appeared in numerous books, magazines, television shows, documentaries and one feature film about the supernatural.

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